


It's Not The End Of The World

by SaraJaye



Category: Boy Meets World
Genre: Angst, Bad Grade Woes, Friendship, Gen, Melodramatic Minkus, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-13
Updated: 2014-07-13
Packaged: 2018-02-08 17:04:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1949241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Minkus goes melodramatic over a less than perfect grade and Shawn tries to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Not The End Of The World

**Author's Note:**

> _Author's choice, author's choice, self - confidence at an all - time low._
> 
> This is an AU where Minkus was still part of the show and Cory and Shawn's lives past season 1.

For most kids, a C was a relief. They could go home and tell their parents they passed, then go back to goofing off until the next one.

For Stuart Minkus, a C was a black mark on the soul. A slap in the face. A kick in the groin. An encroaching apocalypse.

Stuart Minkus had just gotten his first C ever, and he felt lower than scum. Worse than the time he'd been wrong about that math problem in 6th grade, and he remembered going pretty crazy back then. At least the single wrong answer hadn't done any damage to his straight A record. Nothing could. Even in gym class he managed an A, and he was as athletic as a lima bean.

But there it was. A big, fat C on his _report card_ in a subject he thought he was so good at. Apparently, in high school creative writing meant more than proper grammar and spelling and paragraph structure. _No imagination, stories are dry and mechanical and clinical, failure to understand human emotions._ What nonsense! He had emotions! Love for Topanga Lawrence, since the second grade. Contempt for the boors in the back of the classroom making spitballs and laughing at their own bad jokes. Pride in his academic superiority.

He'd tried to tell himself the teacher just didn't like him, that she played favorites, but he knew better. Ms. Snyder was one of the most fair and unbiased teachers in all of John Adams High, it was why she was so well-respected. Why Mr. Feeny had a soft spot for her.

It wasn't Ms. Snyder. It was _him._ He was the failure.

"A C," he moaned for the millionth time that afternoon. "I can't believe-"

"Believe it, Minkus. Believe it, accept it. You're not as perfect as you thought you were," Shawn said, taking another gulp from his can of soda. "It's no big deal! Least you passed."

"No big deal?!" He gave Shawn a dirty look. "Tell that to my parents! Ever since I could read and write I've gotten nothing but As. If I come home with this...this _blemish_ on my record..."

"What, are they gonna cane you? Lock you in the attic? Send you away?"

"Well, no..." He looked down. "Nothing like that. They'll just be... _disappointed._ "

"Oh."

"What do you mean _oh_?"

"Minkus, parents being disappointed in kids is nothing new. Mine were the time I blew up the mailbox, Cory's were when he cheated on the IQ test, Topanga's were the time she ate that beef jerky." Shawn shrugged. "I'm sure they'll still be glad you made the effort. That's what parents want."

"You don't know my parents." Stuart sighed. "They might not get mad, but they think I'm the second coming of Einstein. I can't betray their expectations, they'd be devastated." He buried his face in his hands. "Face it, Hunter. I suck."

"Man, Minkus, this's really got you down." Shawn sat down and put a hand on his shoulder, a gesture that was surprising but not unwelcome. "I guess I just don't get it. Last time I brought home a C on a test my parents took me out for burgers."

"Well, you're an academic washout. They'll take any sign of the contrary as a good one," Stuart said, chuckling weakly. "I've never even had an A-minus before, or even a B-plus." He sighed again, leaning into Shawn's touch. "I just kinda hate myself right now. I was always so good at writing essays. High school has such a different set of standards I wasn't entirely prepared for."

"Tell me about it. Back in the old school if I fell asleep, Feeny poked me with a stick. Here, I fall asleep? Detention." Shawn shrugged. "But hey, might as well get used to it. We're stuck here for the next four years!"

"Well..." Stuart lifted his head. "Maybe I should ask Ms. Snyder for some constructive criticism."

"Sure, why not?" Shawn smiled. "Come on, let's go to Chubbie's. I'll buy you a burger or something." And Stuart realized he was actually kind of hungry. So he let Shawn lead him to their cherished hangout.

Normally, the prospect of spending the afternoon with Shawn Hunter was too weird to ponder. And maybe another sign of the encroaching apocalypse. 

Maybe it still was. But it was better than sitting alone hating himself, he supposed.


End file.
